Begin forwarded message:
From: sasha karlik <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: September 5, 2008 11:11:35 PM PDT
To: Greens-Cal-Forum <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [NewPacifica] Bush Extends 9/11 National Emergency Yet Again
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Bush Extends 9/11 National Emergency Yet Again
By Peter Dale Scott
Global Research, September 4, 2008
Though few Americans realize it, Cheney and Rumsfeld worked through
the 1980s and 1990s on emergency nuclear-response plans which
allegedly suspended the American constitution and also Congress.[1]
(Through these decades Rumsfeld was CEO of a major pharmaceutical
firm, and in the later 1990s Cheney was CEO of Halliburton; but their
private status did not deter them from continuing to exercise a supra-
constitutional planning power conferred on them by Ronald Reagan.)
Even fewer Americans know that these rules, originally dealing with a
nuclear attack on America, were extended by Reagan Executive Order
12656 to cover "any occurrence, including natural disaster, military
attack, technological emergency, or other emergency, that seriously
degrades or seriously threatens the national security of the United
States."[2] And few Americans realize that at least some of these
rules, known technically as Continuity of Government or COG rules,
were invoked before 10:00 AM on September 11, 2001.[3]
As he did in 2007, President Bush has again, on August 28, 2008,
continued for another year the national emergency first officially
proclaimed on September 14, 2001, along with "the powers and
authorities adopted to deal with that emergency:"
Notice: Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Certain
Terrorist Attacks
Consistent with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50
U.S.C. 1622(d)), I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency I
declared on September 14, 2001, in Proclamation 7463, with respect to
the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center, New York, New York,
the Pentagon, and aboard United Airlines flight 93, and the continuing
and immediate threat of further attacks on the United States.
Because the terrorist threat continues, the national emergency
declared on September 14, 2001, and the powers and authorities adopted
to deal with that emergency, must continue in effect beyond September
14, 2008. Therefore, I am continuing in effect for an additional year
the national emergency I declared on September 14, 2001, with respect
to the terrorist threat.
This notice shall be published in the Federal Register and transmitted
to the Congress.
GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
August 28, 2008.[4]
Once again appropriate personnel in Congress should learn and review
what those "powers and authorities" are, since almost certainly they
include COG (Continuity of Government) rules. In 2007 National
Security Presidential Directive 51 (NSPD 51), issued by the White
House, also extended for one year the emergency proclaimed in 2001;
and it empowered the President to personally ensure "continuity of
government."[5]
NSPD 51 also contained "classified Continuity Annexes" to "be
protected from unauthorized disclosure." Congressman DeFazio twice
requested to see these Annexes, the second time in a letter cosigned
by House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson and
Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Christopher Carney. The White House
denied these requests, claiming that the congressmen lacked the
requisite clearances. But as I wrote earlier this year,
"Congress has a right to be concerned about Continuity of Government
(COG) plans refined by Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld over the past
quarter century….The story, ignored by the mainstream press, involved
more than the usual tussle between the legislative and executive
branches of the U.S. Government. What was at stake was a contest
between Congress's constitutional powers of oversight, and a set of
policy plans that could be used to suspend or modify the
constitution."[6]
Oliver North, who worked on COG planning with Rumsfeld and Cheney in
the 1980s, was asked in the Iran-Contra Hearings about his work on an
emergency plan "that would suspend the American constitution."
Democratic Senator Inouye, who was presiding, pounded his gavel and
interjected that this was a "highly sensitive and classified matter,"
not to be dealt with in an open hearing.[7] Congress has never
discussed COG plans publicly since that time.
According to Wikipedia, "The National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C.
1601-1651) is a United States federal law passed in 1976 to stop open-
ended states of national emergency and formalize Congressional checks
and balances on Presidential emergency powers. The act sets a limit of
two years on states of national emergency. It also imposes certain
"procedural formalities" on the President when invoking such powers,
and provides a means for Congress to countermand a Presidential
declaration of emergency and associated use of emergency powers
(emphasis added).
Bush's denial of the Homeland Security's right to review the COG plans
in the classified Appendices of NSPD-51 should have been seen as a
constitutional crisis -- a line in the sand for Congress to assert its
constitutional rights and duties. Now, one year later, I understand
(although I cannot corroborate it from the Internet) that Congressman
Kucinich has introduced or will introduce a bill for Congress, under
the terms of the National Emergencies Act, to countermand the
presidentially proclaimed national emergency. This is an important
move, but it should not obviate the need for Congress to review rules
which allegedly restrict its own powers under the constitution.
Between now and November the American electorate have an opportunity
to present this demand to everyone running for office: that they will
insist on vigorous congressional action to expose and dispose of these
secret COG rules -- rules that allegedly suspend the American
constitution.
Notes
[1] "One of the awkward questions we faced was whether to reconstitute
Congress after a nuclear attack. It was decided that no, it would be
easier to operate without them," said one of the COG planners in the
1980s, who spoke to James Mann (The Rise of the Vulcans, 141-42).
James Bamford reported the same remark in his book Pretext for War (p.
74).
[2]
The provisions of Executive Order 12656 of November 18, 1988, appear
at 53 FR 47491, 3 CFR, 1988 Comp., p. 585, "Executive Order 12656—
Assignment of Emergency Preparedness Responsibilities," http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/12656.html
. The Washington Post
(Gellman and Schmidt, "Shadow Government Is at Work in Secret," March
1, 2002) later claimed, incorrectly, that Executive Order 12656 dealt
only with "a nuclear attack."
[3]
Peter Dale Scott, The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire, and the Future of
America (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press,
2007), 228; citing 9/11Commision Report, 38, 326; Richard A. Clarke,
Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terrorism (New York:
Simon & Schuster, 2004), 8.
[4]
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/08/20080828-7.html .
[5]
National Security Presidential Directive 51, http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05/20070509-12.html
.
[6]
Peter Dale Scott, "Congress, the Bush Adminstration and Continuity of
Government Planning: The Showdown," http://www.counterpunch.org/scott03312008.html
.
[7]
Scott, Road to 9/11, 9, 23, 184. The New York Times published a
complete transcript of the interchange on July 14, 1987, but did not
mention it in its news story about North's testimony.